Venezuelan opposition parties convened a national protest called “Fuera Maduro” (Maduro Out of Office) on Tuesday, December 20.

The parties Vente Venezuela, Voluntad Popular, and Alianza Bravo Pueblo called on the population to protest against Nicolás Maduro and his recent economic measures that generated chaos and looting across the country.

The MUD (Mesa de Unidad Democratica) alliance has been perceived as too willing to cave into Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro’s demands at the negotiating table, prompting calls for more forceful political action from the opposition.

“We want the world to understand what Venezuela is going through. Maduro’s political responsibility has already been declared, now it is necessary to declare Maduro’s failure to discharge his Constitutional duties,” said the national coordinator of Vente Venezuela, Maria Corina Machado.

Machado referred to the importance of taking to the streets in opposition to the policies of the Chavista regime, saying that it is time for Venezuelan society, business owners, and all those who consider it necessary to “escape from this current tragedy,” to take to the streets and make their voices heard.

She also called attention to the plight of the metropolitan mayor of Caracas, Antonio Ledezma, who as of last Monday had been held a year and ten months in prison. “Ledezma is the firm voice of Venezuela that does not give in,” she said.

David Smolansky, mayor of El Hatillo and a key leader of the Voluntad Popular party said that the minimum that political leaders can do is to demand the release of all political prisoners, and reaffirmed the call to take to the streets.

“What we demanded three years ago, we must demand even more forcefully today: Maduro, step aside! Your days are numbered,” he said.